Good morning Bill1954,

Thank you for replying to my initial post.

Fortunately I booked early this morning to see my GP so my appointment fits in well to ask about the BSD.
As you kindly point out I too can’t see why this wont fit in well my my current problem of trying to lower my BS levels.

Thanks again for your advice.

Best regards,

Nigel.

I have to say for me the obvious health benefit to me is weight loss and a 10cm smaller waist. However, I think the improvement to my mental health/ way I perceive myself has been a massive benefit. I now feel free of the previous feelings of guilt and incompetence at being bigger than I liked despite exercising loads and seeming to eat less than skinnier friends, this setting up cycles of extreme dieting followed by extreme binges. After years of trying to loose weight, losing and regaining the same stone on too many occasions to count and believing that I’m just greedy and will never get my binging under control, this really is a revelation. Realising I’m insulin resistant, not incapable of self control is a revelation. I’m almost having to rethink my whole perceptions of the way I (and others)have labelled myself over the years. To be free of binges and snacking now and find I can go hours without eating and being hungry is amazing. It’s not that I’ve learned to control binging/snacking it’s the fact that I just have no desire to do so. This has been so freeing and I feel so much calmer and happier, even ecstatic at times. The low fat propaganda has really been quite damaging to me over the years.
Also, have to say being able to eat cheese and the occasional red wine completely guilt free (while still losing weight) is a benefit I will forever be grateful for!!!

Bill, arrowroot is very high carb!!! Unless it is just a teaspoon I would be wary

Hi Nigel, unfortunately I haven’t heard of anyone on the forums having the identical problem so can’t point you to a suitable posting.
I have a friend who had a kidney transplant over 30 years ago but she hasn’t followed this diet as she does not have T2.

I hope you have an understanding GP/consultant who is prepared to think out of the box. Dieticians seem to mostly churn out the low fat/high carb stuff but you may be lucky enough to find one who will take this diet seriously.

I know, from my friend, that once you have had the transplant and not having the dietary restrictions of dialysis that all food, other than salty food and alcohol, was on the menu.

I can’t see a problem with cutting out starchy carbs but would seek proper medical advice first. As Bill says, there are people on these forums who have seen dramatic reductions in their blood sugars and you don’t want T2 on top of the meds you take to maintain your transplanted kidney.

Hoping for good news for you 🙂

I will find it X X X

mmmm will have a think. For some reason I’m reluctant to “come out” but maybe I need to as this is going to be a long term new way of life. I may say that I’m just trying to cut sugar out. I could always bring a small cheeseboard/celery with me, as a contribution, and also have a quiet word with her. Good idea on the cheese, thanks both.

Well done lostgirl, good to see things happening for you now 🙂
Could you actually post that yorkie recipe please, your link goes to a dead page for me.

Hi my wife and are new to the BSD world however we have been thermomix owners for a while.

Lynette you mentioned you had a few recipes, or any one else, I have a TM 31 and would be very grateful for any thermomix recipes.

We have converted a couple of BSD recipes however if someone else has done some that would be great, I like easy.

regards ash

Improvements in my retinal blood vessels condition
Cholesterol in normal limits
Sleeping better so feeling more alive and active

Bill, the cheese is a good idea. We must have been writing at the same time!! 🙂

Hi Barby, personally I would explain to my friend that I was doing this diet and say I hope you won’t be offended if I don’t eat carb rich foods but I will still really enjoy the dinner you cook and your company even if I don’t eat the carbs.

There is less chance of causing offence that way. 🙂

Barby the roast dinner minus the potatoes will be ok. About dessert, could you tell her that you have high blood sugar readings at the moment so would she mind if you had cheese instead.

Not sure if this is helpful or not, but have seen a few references to physiological insulin resistance on other low carb forums which may explain some people’s higher blood sugars. It appears that this is actually a good thing, if the explanation I have copied below (lots of other references come up if you google it)is correct. It looks like you need to get your HbA1c tested to more reliably tell you if this low carb way of eating is benefiting you.

Physiological Insulin Resistance is better called “Adaptive Glucose Sparing”. Why would your peripheral tissues be primed and adpated to remove glucose from blood if… there isn’t any glucose in there to speak of?

No, those tissues adapt. Glucose transporters fold back inside the cell from the surface, instead the cell becomes more adept at taking in fat which is circulating. You literally become adapted to sparing glucose for use by those cells which absolutely require it. Some brain cells, red blood cells and testes require glucose because they do not have mitochondria!

Yes, FBG can easily rise above 100 mg/dl. But: FBG is a metric which is useful for day to day and hour to control and monitoring of blood glucose in diabetics. If you have physiological insulin resistance, you are literally at the opposite end of the risk spectrum to a diabetic:
•You will have an extremely low HbA1c value
•Your liver and kidneys will be very sensitive to the effect of insulin, even though muscle tissue isn’t
•You will almost never suffer hypoglycemic events

It takes a few days of eating carbs to return to the normal state for healthy people. This is why the term is “physiological” and not “pathological”. It is not a disease state, it is a healthy response to carbohydrate restriction.

My improvements are:
Massive improvement in my asthma.
No acid reflux on the 15 weeks of BSD
Less osteoarthritis pain.

Hi so many of us are noticing improvements in pre existing health conditions I thought it would be useful to have a thread where we put our name and which conditions have improved for us on this diet. It could be useful to Prof Taylor and Dr Mosley for their research.

Lostgirl, So pleased to hear about another three pounds off!

Those containers are a really good idea! 🙂

When on the 5:2 earlier this year I heard a few mentions of gallstones particularly in women being a side effect of very low cal diet & high protein – not what we are doing. This was from Prof Longo who MM was researching intermittent fasting with. Good to hear you’re seeing improvements in yours Cherrianne. My improvements have been to
Asthma
Osteoarthritis
Sinuses

Bill, I’m glad you can!! ;0

Kes don’t beat yourself up about it, you are human after all!
We all have little slip ups, just try to take it 1 day at a time, eg I won’t have alcohol just for today.
You have lost a stone so that is no cause for despondancy, celebrate the fact that you know how to do it and aim to shift the next stone a bit faster.

Hi Odette, I hope the extra water sees a fall on your scales in the morning! 🙂

Hi Christine, I’m sure your friends will notice your weight loss! Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they decide to try this diet too!!!

Cherrianne, looking forward to tasting those lovely organic eggs your girls lay!!
Lucia, I would never bully anyone about being vego either.

I was vegetarian myself for about 14 years but decided to allow meat into my diet when living in the Middle East as it was causing people too much anxiety about meals for me – not many people were vegetarian at the time and I didn’t want to be the cause of stress or people making 2 different meals when I was invited to their homes. I still eat meat now but not every day – a bit too pricey apart from anything else
xxx

Great stuff Alan
You see? after all the worrying you are doing it right after all!
Congratulations, that is a brilliant result, here’s to many more

ROFLMAO
I can read the words Judith, but I can almost hear the thoughts 😀

Hi Kes, just ‘manning up’ will spur you on to achieve more. I think the alcohol might be your biggest stumbling block to more weight loss. Any chance of ditching it until your holiday? You could then look forward to it as a holiday treat you deserve. 🙂

Hi Lucia,
What a good idea, I’m going to get myself a lovely bracelet, a sparkly silver one, ( I don’t suit gold), I’m cheap you See! Then when I reach my target weight I will have it engraved with 800, brilliant idea!!! Thank you for the inspiration.
We are off out for a meal this evening with our diebetic couple, I’m hoping they notice how much weight I have lost, they have been supportive, as well as the forum, we only see them half a dozen times a year, so I think they will see a difference.
Christine

Well sorry been busy.. Life manic!!!

Dropped 3 pounds!!!

What I am doing.. Is bought off eBay take away containers I can freeze and microwave.. Doing bumper cook off and portion and freeze…

So far so good!

We’ve been invited to a birthday lunch with friends on Sunday, which is lovely, just the four of us. I know she’s doing a big roast dinner, so I, being veggie, have offered to bring a cauliflour cheese dish. Hopefully I can make one, that is low carb, and others won’t even realise. She’ll do loads of lovely veg to go with it, I just will have to avoid the roasties.

For desert she’s making homemade trifle, and possibly apple pie. I don’t feel I can offer to bring an alternative, as she’s a very good cook and.maybe would offend her.

What would you all do, just have a little trifle, homemade custard/fruit/cream? I would just have this meal plus low carb soup in evening, no booze. This is the first real challenge I’ve had like this. None of them know I’m doing this regime. I want to wait until I have some noticeable weight loss before telling anyone.

Bill! Me and shell suits!!! Wash your mouth out!!!! :0 :0 🙂

Oh I see
Judith and the dresses 😀 😀 😀
Hashy, ditch the dresses and get a few shellsuits!!!

Penny
I understand the word, but I can’t see where I was acting like that unless it’s a way back post.
Enlighten me please 🙂

Hi christina
Sounds right to me.
Keep up the fats too!
Best of luck
Penny

I can’t comment on the transplant situation, you should really consult your GP or a dietician but the blood sugar readings should take a tumble on this plan if you get the go ahead.
We have had folk with readings similar to yours getting remarkable results.
Try just cutting the bad carbs out for a week or so to see how you react and then worry about the calories would be my advice, but ONLY when you have medical advice to go ahead.
Best of luck!

Hey Bill- let’s not be heteronormative!!!
( that is a word!!!)
Penny

grr meant to post this in the fast 800. oh well it’s here now lol

I think that this really reinforces the guidance in the book that you need to check with your GP if you are on meds for high blood pressure before starting the diet. If you are, check your blood pressure at least daily when you start the diet. I was completely stunned by the fall in my readings after just 1 or 2 days.

I am due to see the GP again early next week (follow up call which means blood sugar was causing concern) so decided to do a pre-emptive strike and go on the diet for a week before going back, based on reports that some people reported almost immediate benefits. Didn’t expect this though! It’s just a shame that Lloyds pharmacy let me down completely and never sent the blood glucose monitor I ordered a week ago, so I have no idea what my blood sugar is doing. On the upside, Boots gave me the customer services number for Roche and when I phoned them to ask where I could get a meter (Accu-chek Aviva) they said they would send me one free of charge. Result!

As a doctor myself (of IT not medicine though) I’m fairly happy to self-administer for a few days, but I’m only doing it as an emergency measure before my BP drops through the floor.

Bottom line – every home should have a blood pressure monitor (and use it)!

Morning Guy’s, as the initial post points out I am new to your excellent site and getting more desperate as time goes by.
So diving straight in……

Bit of my History, Type 2 diabetic after gratefully receiving a Kidney Transplant but I was put on to prednisolone and hey presto I developed Type 2 Diabetes.

I was told by the Doc the sugar increase was because of this steroid I was placed on?

This is my first question has any of you Guys tried the BSD after having a transplant and if so may I ask what success or failure did you experience?

Currently for no apparent reason my BS levels have risen dramatically from 9.5 to 17 and I am extremely worried.
Would you say I am now beyond help with the BSD approach?

Hoping for some feed back,

Very best regards,

Nigel.

it might help to weigh in less, once a week maybe or even at least leave it a couple of days in between.

I’m a newbie too so lets keep going 🙂

I’ve also had to pee a lot…. and I also don’t much feel drawn to the book example recipes, but there are plenty low carb recipe ideas you can find here and online elsewhere and I have been making up my own.

Hi FatBlaster – I know EXACTLY how you feel about being demotivated, especially when you read about all the amazing losses. Not everyone is so lucky – I am quite new here and one of the slow losers, but it IS going. I know myself, and if I see the scales go up, it does demotivate me, could make me binge.

So I have not weighed for last 5 days, just keep doing it properly. It will come off, and meanwhile hopefully you’ll start feeling other benefits, such as clothes slightly looser, happy being in control. I may weigh once a week from now on.

The things I’m trying to do now, which I didn’t at first, is take the time to weigh my portions ie when I add teaspoon chopped nuts to yoghurt/ or 3 dsrt spoons yoghurt for breakfast. Once I know exactly how much a portion is in a certain spoon, I enter it on My Fitness Pal, and use same spoon from then on. I may have been eating too much without realising. Also if you go on MFP or similar, you can make sure you are eating enough fat, which is also important.

Make sure you drink loads, apparently it really helps with weight loss. I’ve found these forums make all the difference to keep me on track. Good luck and bet you will be shrinking soon.

Haven’t had the bravery to post my weight on this thread for the last few weeks as I’ve been so disappointed with myself. I’m like many of you who lost a lot of weight in the first 2 weeks (11lb) then just sat there. The difference between you guys and me is that I know it is all my fault. I know that I’m not sticking rigidly to 800 cals, I’m not drinking enough water, I’m still drinking too much alcohol and I’m not getting enough exercise. All these things are in my power to change but I just can’t seem to muster up enough willpower.

It is day 4 of week 7 today and this morning I hit the 1 st lost goal (a goal I aimed to have achieved at the end of week 4) so thought it was time to man up and post it here (hoping it might spur me on to do better). We’ve also got a holiday planned for the end May/beginning June and my next goal is another stone before then.

Although I’ve not been brave enough to put up my own weight I wanted to thank all of you for posting up your amazing results and also those of you who are struggling a bit like me. I read all your posts every day and gain such a lot of comfort, inspiration and encouragement (I just need to bottle it and not let life and my own weakness derail me so much).

Well done to all the losers! not just of weight but of the burdens of ill health and especially well done for sticking with it and giving us encouragement.

Here we are on day 4 (I’ll update my food at the days end) but I wanted to check in 🙂

Positives… My scales are showing I’ve lost 3.5lb’s woohoo! I’ve not really felt hungry and I’ve found it easier than I thought to find food to eat. I’m feeling more confident that I can see this through and still enjoy my meals. I’ve been having a lunchtime walk at work to help get my step target I forgot to add my steps to some of my updates but I’ve made my 10000 or more every day.

Negatives… I’ve had some headaches, presumably due to carb withdrawal as well as suddenly not drinking lots of my favourite lady grey tea! (I’ve been having herbal instead) and my IBS had been playing up a little but it did that anyway so I’m not linking it directly to the diet. It can be very random. I have WANTED to eat carbs but I recognise I wasn’t hungry. Unfortunately (lol) I live with a very lean husband who does training and has a ridiculously fast metabolism. He needs to eat a lot including carbs and as I have an 11 year old and a 3 year old I can’t just clear the house of the stuff I’d like to munch.

When I see something would normally just eat and want it, I turn away quickly so as not to dwell on it. If I think about it then usually I eat a single cashew nut or a piece of sugar free gum. So far that has been enough to distract me.

I only work Monday to Thursday so my weekend has started now, and I’m expecting it to be harder to keep my steps up as well as staying on track but I’m feeling like I can do it 🙂

Feel free to point out any flaws in what I’ve done so far, I welcome advice and constructive criticism.

Day 3

Breakfast- two eggs (whisked up in a cup then added spring onion and ham, fried)

lunch- scotch egg and salad, and a few strawberries.

Dinner- Soup. (made with beef stock, lentils, onion and butterbeans)

I recognise I’ve had too many eggs…but I made a batch of the scotch eggs and they needed eaten 🙂 I’ll vary it up more next week as I will be better organised. The soup recipe was from a website I use a lot for cooking I’ll post the link below. I used this recipe but added a can of butterbeans and a little more water to accommodate the beans. I blended it too. It was really nice and will be lunch tomorrow and probably some frozen.

755 calories, 55.9g carbs

http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/14460/just-lentil-soup.aspx?o_is=SR

Hi Hashimoto,
You should be enjoying fresh eggs when you get here. The laying is tapering off due to the shorter days but we are still getting eggs. Our girls get buried at a ripe old age lol. Usually to fertilise a new tree! We have quite a few of Hugh’s DVDs, we can’t get TV reception where we live but we do enjoy his shows and the whole sustainable living thing.
Lucia, I would never bully or coerce anyone into turning vego. It is a very personal choice and we aren’t militant about it at all. It still isn’t easy, even in these days, to get good veg food when eating out. Especially if you want to go low carb. At home it’s easy to be a low carb vego.
Julia I can just picture you trying to hush your daughter! They come up with the funniest things don’t they? It’s all about whatever comes into their head comes out on their lips. No filter yet lol.

Day 2

Breakfast- yoghurt and a satsuma

lunch- Scotch egg with salad

Dinner- chicken and cashews. (cooked chicken, onion, broccoli and a chilli in a little olive oil, added chinese five spice, stock, soy sauce and cooked longer then added nuts for last 10 mins) it was so nice! Hubby had it with rice.

780 cals, 50.9g carbs

I posted a hello in the welcome thread but decided to make a diary here. Brief backstory… Mum of two, 40, PCOS, insulin resistant. Suffered gestational diabetes during pregnancy and told I’m at high risk of becoming diabetic, Dad and sister both type 2. Been there and done that with every diet with varying success, the only ones that really got me anywhere were low carb but I never made a proper lifetime commitment to them, but now? Well… Life begins at 40 they say, I’m ready. I’ve been ill the past two months (low iron and anxiety/depression) but I’m on my way back and I decided now is the time. I stumbled across this diet whilst listening to a radio programme interviewing Michael Mosley. It wasn’t about the 8 week diet, but people had called in thanking him for it and it was briefly mentioned and caught my attention, so I bought the book, read it, got myself organised and here we are! My heaviest weight a few years ago was 14st 4, and I’m happy to say I didn’t reach that again although I’ve been up and down. My check in weight on day one was 12st 12. I’ve got a fitbit and have been getting my steps per day and using the app to log my food. Pleased to find on the laptop web version that I can monitor the carbs too.

So day one was Tuesday and went like this…

Weight 12st 12
Fasting blood sugar 5.1 (I momentarily felt like a fraud, but hey my body is probably wild with insulin to get there)
steps 10480

Breakfast plain yoghurt and blueberries,
lunch home made scotch egg (no breadcrumb coating) salad
Dinner courgette stuffed with mince, onions, with tomato puree and stock, very small amount of cheese on top.

770 calories 46.3g carb

Hello, I was feeling a bit frustrated, on Day 21, overall loss was 12lbs but only 1 lb was in the last week. So yesterday I thought, NO CARBS TODAY as i really wanted to hit the I stone milestone. And guess what , I got up this

i had gained two pounds! Does this story sound familiar? On the plus side, I experimented with stopping my BP medication and checked all day, and it seems I dont need it any more, amazeballs!
So now, I shall follow suggestions and drink lots of water today. If these posts were not here Im sure Id have quit. Thank you all.

What an inspiring graph, justabloke, visuals are great, aren’t they 🙂

Keep going Lucyjane, you will be one of those who reports a sudden loss one morning! 🙂

Cherrieanne that is very good news re your large gall stone.

It’s quite staggering how many people are reporting beneficial changes in medical conditions while on this low carb diet!

So far:
Acid reflux
Gall stones
Asthma
Joint pain

All we expected was an improvement in T2 – or reversal – and weight loss!

Post if you have any other improvements I haven’t mentioned! 🙂

Thanks so much, Bill1954. Sometimes, someone encouraging you is all you need. I am boring my dearly beloved senseless with this (although she has been very supportive). I find I become quite obsessed by the whole thing. Thanks.

Don’t let it demotivate you!!!
everyone is different and your body is not to be trusted.
Things like stress, feeling unwell and even the time of day can make your weight vary by up to 4 pounds a day!
I know what Michael says about daily weighing and sorry but it’s one thing I disagree with. Yes if you lose a bit each day it will keep you motivated but you are experiencing the opposite.
Personally I weigh once a week on the same day at the same time.
The diet does work, on 800 calories and low carbs you have to lose weight but it won’t all come off at once, take a look through the forums and you will find plenty of people who have had plateaux lasting up to 3 weeks, then they get a sudden overnight loss.
Keep your faith, the results will come.